diff --git a/src/bin-utils/initialize/fixtures/_package-no-scripts.json b/src/bin-utils/initialize/fixtures/_package-no-scripts.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e26dfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/bin-utils/initialize/fixtures/_package-no-scripts.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/bin-utils/initialize/index.js b/src/bin-utils/initialize/index.js
index 1101f77..ad9782a 100644
--- a/src/bin-utils/initialize/index.js
+++ b/src/bin-utils/initialize/index.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ function initialize(configType = 'js') {
   /* eslint global-require:0,import/no-dynamic-require:0 */
   const packageJsonPath = findUpSync('package.json')
   const packageJson = require(packageJsonPath)
-  const {scripts} = packageJson
+  const {scripts = {}} = packageJson
   packageJson.scripts = {
     start: 'nps',
     test: scripts.test ? 'nps test' : undefined,
diff --git a/src/bin-utils/initialize/index.test.js b/src/bin-utils/initialize/index.test.js
index 355d641..b9e9308 100644
--- a/src/bin-utils/initialize/index.test.js
+++ b/src/bin-utils/initialize/index.test.js
@@ -89,3 +89,26 @@ test('initialize without a test script should not add a test to the package.json
     start: 'nps',
   })
 })
+
+test('initialize without any scripts should successfully create an empty package-scripts.js file', () => {
+  const packageJsonDestination = resolve('./src/bin-utils/initialize/fixtures/_package-no-scripts.json')
+  const mockWriteFileSync = spy()
+  const mockFindUpSync = spy(file => {
+    if (file === 'package.json') {
+      return packageJsonDestination
+    }
+    throw new Error('Should not look for anything but package.json')
+  })
+  jest.resetModules()
+  jest.mock('find-up', () => ({sync: mockFindUpSync}))
+  jest.mock('fs', () => ({writeFileSync: mockWriteFileSync}))
+  const initialize = require('./index').default
+
+  initialize()
+  const [, packageJsonStringResult] = mockWriteFileSync.firstCall.args
+  const {scripts: packageJsonScripts} = JSON.parse(packageJsonStringResult)
+
+  expect(packageJsonScripts).toEqual({
+    start: 'nps',
+  })
+})